Salar Ansari Trio
Michigan Central Station
2001 15th Street, Detroit
Dec. 20, 2024
It’s insane that we get to experience live music at Michigan Central at all. I’m certainly not taking that for granted.
This train station sat abandoned for so long that I don’t think a lot of people ever dreamed they’d be sipping expensive cocktails and watching music inside of here ever.
But talk about the right band in the wrong place -- a place that just might not ever be great for live music.
And that was the tragedy of it all this past Friday night, for folks that might’ve been seeing the Salar Ansari Trio for the first time – truly one of the greatest groups you can experience in Detroit right now.
A perfect mix of technical proficiency, of electronic music and live instrumentation, of multiple genres from around the city -- house music, jazz, techno, funk -- finding harmony next to one another.
Ansari, who hails from Tehran, has really been a gift to the Detroit music scene. During his performance, a massive screen behind him showed off sweeping drone footage of Iran’s myriad landscapes in honor of Yaldā Night, an ancient Iranian celebration of the winter solstice.
At one point, Ansari implored the crowd to “eat pomegranates” and “read poetry” -- a few of the activities you’d likely be part of on this night. I loved the way that Ansari brought this extra element to his set.
He was joined by pianist Ian Fink and bassist Pathe Jassi (the son of Detroit saxophonist Sam Sanders). It was my second time seeing this configuration -- one of the best live music experiences going in the city right now. The first time was at Lincoln Factory in their massive open-air courtyard. Everything sounded perfect.
But inside of the Michigan Central Station, a lot of that went to waste echoing off the walls and losing its details, delivery and emotion to too much space.
If you sat close enough, you could capture some of the vibe. People sitting in expensive couches, nodding their heads to the groove. I applaud everyone that attempted to dance and bring some flavor into the room. Otherwise, it felt stiff as rigamortis out in the crowd.
I want live shows at the Michigan Central Station to work out. And, to be fair, they are brand new to the game of welcoming people in and seeing a tone. I will try again!
Like a new restaurant, it’ll take some time to find a groove inside of that $1 billion renovation that just opened to the public earlier this year.
And I applaud them for reaching into the community and representing the scene with some authority. Salar Ansari Trio was an excellent pick.
But expect any music you see here to play second fiddle to taking in the architecture of a structure a lot of Detroiters never thought would be occupied ever again.
